Fat Albert Demo - NO MORE JATO???

[Derf]

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php? ... 589&nseq=1

I was told about this a few years ago...say it ain't so!!!!

Did they end all the JATO shows??? Please tell me they are just changing
to the proper term and are going to do RATO takoffs.

[moose135]

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/10/m ... o_102909w/

Nov. 14 is final JATO for popular Fat Albert
By Amy McCullough - Staff report
Posted : Saturday Oct 31, 2009 10:04:55 EDT

The Blue Angels’ C-130T Hercules, affectionately known as Fat Albert, has performed its fiery jet-assisted takeoff at countless air shows since 1975, but the tradition will end Nov. 14 in Pensacola, Fla., when the team closes its 2009 season.

A Navy aircraft, Fat Albert has been manned by an all-Marine crew since it joined the legendary flight demonstration team in 1970. Its primary mission is to carry the Angels’ 40-plus maintenance and support personnel, as well as the gear, spare parts and communications equipment necessary to pull off successful air shows. That will not change.

But Fat Albert’s jet-assisted takeoff — or JATO — has been a popular part of the Angels’ act for the past 34 years, wowing crowds at the outset of most shows with flames and smoke shooting out from beneath its wings as the lumbering aircraft lifts off the runway and lets out a deafening roar.

Its final JATO performance at Naval Air Station Pensacola, which all past Fat Albert aircrew members were invited to attend, will mark the end of an era.

The fuel bottles, which weigh about 150 pounds when full, were designed to thrust C-130s skyward in austere conditions where traditional runways are unavailable, said 1st Lt. Craig Thomas, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon. But the Corps hasn’t used JATO in combat since the Vietnam War, he said, and it’s unlikely to do so again, as newer KC-130Js have engines built to exert the same thrust as C-130Ts outfitted with rocket bottles.

The Blue Angels visit about 35 cities during a nine-month schedule, performing two shows per city, but a dwindling supply of rocket bottles — and a budget that doesn’t allow for replacements — has forced the team to limit its JATO demonstrations to about 20 a year. This year it will perform 13, Hess said

[cancidas]

i've been hearing this since i first started working the Salinas air show. i really enjoyed watching the night RATO, even managed to get a halfway-decent shot of it when they switched runways one year. maybe if the USMC would upgrade to a "J" they'd be able to fly the same flight without the rockets.

[SmAlbany]

I wonder if they will have the bottles available for my local ANG guys that do the Greenland/Antarctica missions?

[Steven Holzinger]

Here's the last JATO... it was definitely a bittersweet moment. The Blues have told me they have something in store for the replacement of the JATO in the demo... what it is, I don't know. If I had to guess... the same type of takeoff but sans JATO.

[gettysburgerrn]

Bummer that was a cool thingto watch. Id be surprised if they didnt find something equally as cool to take its place though...

ken

[Matt Molnar]

I wonder if they will have the bottles available for my local ANG guys that do the Greenland/Antarctica missions?

When Phil interviewed the captain of "City of Christchurch" at LGA Kids Day, I believe he said they still use them sometimes. We'll get that video on here someday. :?

[jerslice]

Got to see it at Miramar in 2009: